Upcoming events and things to do in Asheville, NC. Below is a list of events for festivals, concerts, art exhibitions, group meetups and more.

Interested in adding an event to our calendar? Please click the green “Post Your Event” button below.

Saturday, August 6, 2022
Intuitive Art & Alchemy – Retreat into the Soul
Aug 6 @ 2:00 pm – 2:00 pm
The Prama Institute

COME HOME TO YOURSELF. FIND WHOLENESS THROUGH EXPLORATION AND DEEP PLAY.

Through process painting, breathwork journeys, circles, and embodied experiences, we will dive into our inner worlds to let our Souls’ Wisdom speak.

You are a powerful, creative being worthy of expression. Within you lies a boundless world of images, symbols, and forms unique to your Soul. Too often, so many of us have had to squelch or dampen our own inner creative fire out of fear of criticism, rejection, or from past discouragement. But no more. Your creativity is your power. It is a portal for accessing what is within and giving it a space in which to be seen, heard, and fully witnessed.

As part of this retreat, we will use the basic tools of tempera paint, brushes and paper to tap and express from the life force energy that is inherent within each one of us. Imagine having the materials and encouragement for your inner child to come out and play with vibrant color, lines, and form without any critique or criticism, but simply to play and revel in joyous bliss, Soul-nourishment, and deep surrender.
With loving support, you will be guided to reconnect with your inner self and wholeness using painting as a tool for self-discovery. Process painting is about the experience of showing up to ourselves, not about the finished painting. No prior art experience necessary. All materials will be provided.

DEEPEN INTO YOUR OWN EMBODIED WISDOM AND EXPRESS YOUR SOUL’S TRUTH.

Each day we will be in gentle-yet-potent self-exploration, ceremonies, and personal practices that will create space for deepened wholeness that will surely be felt long after our time together.

This retreat is a safe space to be all that you are. We wholeheartedly welcome adults of all ages, genders, gender expressions, sexual orientations, races, nationalities, and backgrounds.
We will gather in a group between 10 to 20 people.

Facilitated by the creators of Wisdom of the Shadow and Wisdom of the Divine Feminine: Jessica Ricchetti (Author, Priestess, Energy Alchemist) and Jenny Hahn (Artist and Workshop Facilitator). Transformational experiences are a key element of our own lives as well as our work… and this retreat is an expression of what we honor most deeply.
Join us, Wise one…

Virtual Evening with Mohsin Hamid
Aug 6 @ 7:00 pm
online
Image shows a black box with text Ticketed. Virtual. Books & Books/ Miami Book Fair & Indie bookstore partners present Mohsin Hamid. Saturday. 08.06.22. Also shown are the Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe logo, photo of Hamid, and the cover of his book THE LAST WHITE MAN.

Join us for a virtual evening with Mohsin Hamid presenting The Last White Man: A Novel on Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 7 PM ET. 

This event is hosted by Books & Books/Miami Book Fair + indie bookstore partners.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

There are TWO ticket options for this event. One is the price of the book and includes the book. The other is free.

1. Click to purchase EVENT & BOOK for $26.00 (plus applicable tax and shipping):
♦ includes a hardcover copy of The Last White Man
♦ includes the link to access the live event on Zoom

2. Click to register for EVENT ONLY:
♦ includes a link to access the live event on Zoom

Please make sure you submit the correct email address with your ticket purchase or registration and that your email filters will allow messages from addresses @malaprops.com. The link required to attend will be emailed to you prior to the event.

NOTE: Books bundled with event tickets may be shipped ONLY to United States addresses. Books will not be shipped before publication date, August 2, 2022. Postal delivery times vary.


The Last White Man: A Novel

From the New York Times-bestselling author of Exit West, a story of love, loss, and rediscovery in a time of unsettling change.
One morning, a man wakes up to find himself transformed. Overnight, Anders’s skin has turned dark, and the reflection in the mirror seems a stranger to him. At first he shares his secret only with Oona, an old friend turned new lover. Soon, reports of similar events begin to surface. Across the land, people are awakening in new incarnations, uncertain how their neighbors, friends, and family will greet them. Some see the transformations as the long-dreaded overturning of the established order that must be resisted to a bitter end. In many, like Anders’s father and Oona’s mother, a sense of profound loss and unease wars with profound love. As the bond between Anders and Oona deepens, change takes on a different shading: a chance at a kind of rebirth–an opportunity to see ourselves, face to face, anew.

Mohsin Hamid is the author of five novels, including the Booker Prize finalists and New York Times bestsellers Exit West and The Reluctant Fundamentalist. His essays, some collected as Discontent and Its Civilizations, have appeared in The New York TimesThe Washington Post, and elsewhere.

Virtual Evening with Mohsin Hamid + Danzy Senna
Aug 6 @ 7:00 pm
online w/ Malaprop's Bookstore
Image shows a black box with text Virtual ticketed with free option. Books & Books, Miami Book Fair & indies across the U.S. present Mohsin Hamid in conversation with Danzy Senna. Saturday. 08.06.22. Also shown are the Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe logo, photos of Hamid and Senna, and the cover of Hamid's book THE LAST WHITE MAN: A NOVEL.

Join us for a virtual evening with Mohsin Hamid discussing The Last White Man: A Novel with Danzy Senna, on Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 7 PM ET. 

This event is hosted by Books & Books/Miami Book Fair + indie bookstore partners.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

There are TWO ticket options for this event. One is the price of the book and includes the book. The other is FREE.

1. Click to purchase EVENT & BOOK for $26.00 (plus applicable tax and shipping). Ticket includes:
       ♦ a hardcover copy of The Last White Man
♦ a bookplate signed by Mohsin Hamid
♦ the link to access the live event on Zoom  

2. Click to register for EVENT ONLY for FREE:
      ♦ includes a link to access the live event on Zoom

Please make sure you submit the correct email address with your ticket purchase or registration and that your email filters will allow messages from addresses @malaprops.com. The link required to attend will be emailed to you prior to the event.

NOTE: Books bundled with event tickets may be shipped ONLY to United States addresses. Books will be available after we recieve the signed bookplates and will not be shipped before publication date, August 2, 2022. Postal delivery times vary.


The Last White Man: A Novel

From the New York Times-bestselling author of Exit West, a story of love, loss, and rediscovery in a time of unsettling change.
One morning, a man wakes up to find himself transformed. Overnight, Anders’s skin has turned dark, and the reflection in the mirror seems a stranger to him. At first he shares his secret only with Oona, an old friend turned new lover. Soon, reports of similar events begin to surface. Across the land, people are awakening in new incarnations, uncertain how their neighbors, friends, and family will greet them. Some see the transformations as the long-dreaded overturning of the established order that must be resisted to a bitter end. In many, like Anders’s father and Oona’s mother, a sense of profound loss and unease wars with profound love. As the bond between Anders and Oona deepens, change takes on a different shading: a chance at a kind of rebirth–an opportunity to see ourselves, face to face, anew.

Mohsin Hamid is the author of five novels, including the Booker Prize finalists and New York Times bestsellers Exit West and The Reluctant Fundamentalist. His essays, some collected as Discontent and Its Civilizations, have appeared in The New York TimesThe Washington Post, and elsewhere.

Danzy Senna’s first novel, the bestselling Caucasia, won the Stephen Crane Award for Best New Fiction and the American Library Association’s Alex Award, was a finalist for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and has been translated into nearly a dozen languages. A recipient of the Whiting Writers Award, Senna is also the author of the memoir Where Did You Sleep Last Night?, the story collection You Are Free, and the novels Symptomatic and New People. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, the novelist Percival Everett, and their sons.

Sunday, August 7, 2022
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library®
Aug 7 all-day
online

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library impacts the pre­-literacy skills and school readiness of children under the age of 5 in Buncombe County. The program mails a new, free, age-appropriate book to registered children each month until they turn five years old. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library creates a home library of up to 60 books and instills a love of books and reading from an early age. If you have any questions about the program, please send an email to [email protected].

A national panel of educators selects the Imagination Library titles, which include: The Little Engine that Could, Last Stop on Market Street, Violet the Pilot, As an Oak Tree Grows, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Llama Llama Red Pajama, Look Out Kindergarten, here I come, and many more (take a look at all the titles).

Register your child now!

Intuitive Art & Alchemy – Retreat into the Soul
Aug 7 @ 2:00 pm – 2:00 pm
The Prama Institute

COME HOME TO YOURSELF. FIND WHOLENESS THROUGH EXPLORATION AND DEEP PLAY.

Through process painting, breathwork journeys, circles, and embodied experiences, we will dive into our inner worlds to let our Souls’ Wisdom speak.

You are a powerful, creative being worthy of expression. Within you lies a boundless world of images, symbols, and forms unique to your Soul. Too often, so many of us have had to squelch or dampen our own inner creative fire out of fear of criticism, rejection, or from past discouragement. But no more. Your creativity is your power. It is a portal for accessing what is within and giving it a space in which to be seen, heard, and fully witnessed.

As part of this retreat, we will use the basic tools of tempera paint, brushes and paper to tap and express from the life force energy that is inherent within each one of us. Imagine having the materials and encouragement for your inner child to come out and play with vibrant color, lines, and form without any critique or criticism, but simply to play and revel in joyous bliss, Soul-nourishment, and deep surrender.
With loving support, you will be guided to reconnect with your inner self and wholeness using painting as a tool for self-discovery. Process painting is about the experience of showing up to ourselves, not about the finished painting. No prior art experience necessary. All materials will be provided.

DEEPEN INTO YOUR OWN EMBODIED WISDOM AND EXPRESS YOUR SOUL’S TRUTH.

Each day we will be in gentle-yet-potent self-exploration, ceremonies, and personal practices that will create space for deepened wholeness that will surely be felt long after our time together.

This retreat is a safe space to be all that you are. We wholeheartedly welcome adults of all ages, genders, gender expressions, sexual orientations, races, nationalities, and backgrounds.
We will gather in a group between 10 to 20 people.

Facilitated by the creators of Wisdom of the Shadow and Wisdom of the Divine Feminine: Jessica Ricchetti (Author, Priestess, Energy Alchemist) and Jenny Hahn (Artist and Workshop Facilitator). Transformational experiences are a key element of our own lives as well as our work… and this retreat is an expression of what we honor most deeply.
Join us, Wise one…

Monday, August 8, 2022
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library®
Aug 8 all-day
online

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library impacts the pre­-literacy skills and school readiness of children under the age of 5 in Buncombe County. The program mails a new, free, age-appropriate book to registered children each month until they turn five years old. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library creates a home library of up to 60 books and instills a love of books and reading from an early age. If you have any questions about the program, please send an email to [email protected].

A national panel of educators selects the Imagination Library titles, which include: The Little Engine that Could, Last Stop on Market Street, Violet the Pilot, As an Oak Tree Grows, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Llama Llama Red Pajama, Look Out Kindergarten, here I come, and many more (take a look at all the titles).

Register your child now!

Hybrid: Ali Kamanda and Jorge Redmond launch Black Boy, Black Boy
Aug 8 @ 7:00 pm
Malaprop's Bookstore
Image contains the text: Ali Kamanda and Jorge Redmond launch Black Boy, Black Boy. Hybrid. Monday, August 8, 2022. 7 PM ET. Next to the text are a photo of the author and the cover of the featured book.

This is a hybrid event, meaning there is an option to attend virtually and a limited number of seats are available to attend the event in-store. The event is free but registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance.

Please click here to register for the VIRTUAL event. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

Please click here to register for the IN-PERSON event. Note the important event details on the RSVP form.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


From athlete and activist Colin Kaepernick to musician Fela Kuti, explorer Matthew Henson and writer Chinua Achebe, there are so many inspirational men in Black history. This lyrical, rhythmic texts encourages boys to imagine everything they can be and the great things they can do, drawing on the strength of people throughout history that paved the way for Black boys.

It tells today’s boys: you have the courage, you are the light. It’s a new day! Be inspired and motivated by drawing on the history of the role models that came before you.

Dear boy, Black boy, I believe in you so.

Let’s start your story–ready, set, go.

Contributor Bios

ALI BIKO SULAIMAN KAMANDA is an award-winning filmmaker and social entrepreneur from Sierra Leone, West Africa. He runs BIKO Studios, a cross-cultural film production company and is the President of Salone Rising, a not-for-profit organization that provides micro-financing and mentoring resources to small business owners in rural Sierra Leone.

JORGE REDMOND currently works in the Buncombe County District Attorney’s office as an Assistant District Attorney, and as an adjunct professor in South College’s Legal Department. Ali and Jorge are college friends, and Black Boy, Black Boy is their debut book.

KEN DALEY is an award-winning artist from Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. He believes that diverse stories are essential to creating a more just, and equitable world, and is known for his use of bold colors and authentic details to depict Black Life in all its iterations.

Mystery Book Club
Aug 8 @ 7:00 pm
Malaprops Bookstore

 

Join host Tena Frank for Malaprop’s Mystery Book Club! Click here to see a full schedule of what the club is reading. Club attendees get 10% off the book at Malaprop’s!

The club meets at Malaprop’s on the second Monday of every month at 7:00 pm.

Tuesday, August 9, 2022
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library®
Aug 9 all-day
online

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library impacts the pre­-literacy skills and school readiness of children under the age of 5 in Buncombe County. The program mails a new, free, age-appropriate book to registered children each month until they turn five years old. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library creates a home library of up to 60 books and instills a love of books and reading from an early age. If you have any questions about the program, please send an email to [email protected].

A national panel of educators selects the Imagination Library titles, which include: The Little Engine that Could, Last Stop on Market Street, Violet the Pilot, As an Oak Tree Grows, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Llama Llama Red Pajama, Look Out Kindergarten, here I come, and many more (take a look at all the titles).

Register your child now!

Leicester Library Book Discussion Group
Aug 9 @ 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Leicester Library

This month we’re discussing The Last Castle  by Denise Kiernan.   The Leicester Library Book Discussion Group meets the second Tuesday of each month at 1 pm in the Community Room at the library. Newcomers welcome!

Awaken: An Online Shamanic Healing Experience
Aug 9 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
online

Awaken: An Online Shamanic Healing Experience

Hosted by Jissel Ravelo
Are you looking to feel more present, empowered and purposeful?

About this Event
In this virtual experience, we pave the way to establish more authentic, profound and lasting transformation on the physical, emotional and spiritual levels, through coming together as a community. These ancient practices, teachings and inner journeys are designed to connect you back to nature, open your heart and help understand your potential. Come ready to reflect, visualize, write and share (if comfortable).
Other benefits include:
• Supporting your ability to create positive life changes
• Increasing inner power and confidence
• Expanding your sense of wholeness and well-being
• Promoting a stronger connection to a spiritual source and soul purpose
• Changing limiting or negatives beliefs
• Balancing the mind for clarity and enhanced intuition
• Helping to feeling more present and stable in life
The following is recommended: a quiet and comfortable space, a blanket and pillow, water, and a journal. Optional tools (if available): sage, palo santo, florida water, favorite essential oil, crystals, stones and a candle.

Any donation amount is appreciated, we accept donations up to $30 per group session.

Ticketed | Virtual Evening with Colson Whitehead + Adam Serwer
Aug 9 @ 8:00 pm
online w/ Malaprop's Bookstore
Image shows a black box with the text: Ticketed. A Virtual Evening with Colson Whitehead discussing HARLEM Shuffle. LIVE on Zoom in conversation with Adam Serwer. August 9. 8 PM ET. Presented by Books & Books, Miami Book Fair, and indies across the U.S.

Tuesday, August 9, 2022 at 8 PM ET. 

Join us for a virtual evening with Colson Whitehead celebrating the paperback release of Harlem Shuffle, in conversation with Adam Serwer.

This event is presented by Books & Books/Miami Book Fair + indie bookstore partners including Malaprop’s.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Tickets are $17.00 each (plus applicable tax and shipping) and include:
♦ A paperback copy of Harlem Shuffle: A Novel (unsigned)
♦ A link to access the live event on Zoom.
Purchase below. 

Please make sure you submit the correct email address with your ticket purchase and that your email filters will allow messages from addresses @malaprops.com. The link required to attend will be emailed to you prior to the event.

NOTE: Books bundled with event tickets may be shipped ONLY to United States addresses. Books will not be shipped before publication date, August 9, 2022. Postal delivery times vary.

Please email [email protected] with questions.

We look forward to seeing you online on August 9th!


Ray Carney was only slightly bent when it came to being crooked… To his customers and neighbors on 125th street, Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably priced furniture, making a decent life for himself and his family. He and his wife Elizabeth are expecting their second child, and if her parents on Striver’s Row don’t approve of him or their cramped apartment across from the subway tracks, it’s still home. Few people know he descends from a line of uptown hoods and crooks, and that his façade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it. Cracks that are getting bigger all the time. Cash is tight, especially with all those installment-plan sofas, so if his cousin Freddie occasionally drops off the odd ring or necklace, Ray doesn’t ask where it comes from. He knows a discreet jeweler downtown who doesn’t ask questions, either. Then Freddie falls in with a crew who plan to rob the Hotel Theresa–the Waldorf of Harlem–and volunteers Ray’s services as the fence. The heist doesn’t go as planned; they rarely do. Now Ray has a new clientele, one made up of shady cops, vicious local gangsters, two-bit pornographers, and other assorted Harlem lowlifes.

Thus begins the internal tussle between Ray the striver and Ray the crook. As Ray navigates this double life, he begins to see who actually pulls the strings in Harlem. Can Ray avoid getting killed, save his cousin, and grab his share of the big score, all while maintaining his reputation as the go-to source for all your quality home furniture needs?

Harlem Shuffle’s ingenious story plays out in a beautifully recreated New York City of the early 1960s. It’s a family saga masquerading as a crime novel, a hilarious morality play, a social novel about race and power, and ultimately a love letter to Harlem. But mostly, it’s a joy to read, another dazzling novel from the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning Colson Whitehead.

COLSON WHITEHEAD is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of ten works of fiction and nonfiction, and is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Nickel Boys and The Underground Railroad, which also won the National Book Award. A recipient of MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowships, he lives in New York City.

Adam Serwer is a staff writer for the Ideas section of The Atlantic and the author of the New York Times bestselling essay collection The Cruelty Is The Point. He was previously the national editor at BuzzFeed News, a national reporter for MSNBC, and a reporter for Mother Jones. He is the recipient of the 2019 Hillman Prize for commentary and analysis, the 2015 Sigma Delta Chi Award for online column writing, The 2020 Vernon Jarrett Medal, and the 2019 National Association of Black Journalists Salute to Excellence Award for magazine commentary.

Wednesday, August 10, 2022
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library®
Aug 10 all-day
online

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library impacts the pre­-literacy skills and school readiness of children under the age of 5 in Buncombe County. The program mails a new, free, age-appropriate book to registered children each month until they turn five years old. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library creates a home library of up to 60 books and instills a love of books and reading from an early age. If you have any questions about the program, please send an email to [email protected].

A national panel of educators selects the Imagination Library titles, which include: The Little Engine that Could, Last Stop on Market Street, Violet the Pilot, As an Oak Tree Grows, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Llama Llama Red Pajama, Look Out Kindergarten, here I come, and many more (take a look at all the titles).

Register your child now!

Pack Library Book Club: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Aug 10 @ 10:30 am – 11:30 am
Pack Memorial Library
Discussion Bound Book Club
Aug 10 @ 12:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum

 

Hosted by the Asheville Art Museum, this monthly discussion is a place to exchange ideas about readings that relate to artworks and the art world and to learn from and about each other. Meetings will take place in person at the Art Museum on the second Wednesday of the month at noon. Please click here and scroll to the current month and year to see what the club is reading this month.

Hybrid: No Work in the Grave: Life in the Toe River Valley with Jo Ann Thomas Croom, Katey Schultz and Jim Stokely
Aug 10 @ 6:00 pm
Malaprop's Bookstore
Image contains the text: Jo Ann Thomas Croom with Katey Schultz and Jim Stokely: Wednesday, August 10, 2022. 6 PM ET. Hybrid. Next to the text are photos of the participants and the cover of the featured book.

Join us for a conversation with Jo Ann Thomas Croom and Katey Schultz discussing the ways in which the Toe River Valley informs and inspires their writing. The conversation will be moderated by Jim Stokely.

This is a hybrid event, meaning there is an option to attend virtually and a limited number of seats are available to attend the event in-store. Registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance. 

Please click here to register for the VIRTUAL event. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

Please click here to register for the IN-PERSON event. Note the important event details on the RSVP form.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


Step back in time to the early 1900s and enter the sparsely settled Toe River Valley in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, a region still only slowly healing from the deep ravages of the Civil War. Life is centered in small insulated communities made up of subsistence farm families, one of which is the A.H. and Maggie Silver Thomas family. Both the Thomas and Silver families can trace their ancestors in the Valley back for five generations, and both their histories are first recorded by their son, Monroe, a teacher who is home-bound by illness. From his cot in the living room, Monroe watches as the entry of the railroad changes life into a wage-earner economy. He keeps an account of farm and community life in his journals while continuing to further educate himself through avid reading and thinking. His younger brother Walter, also an educator, provides a retrospective view of the time and place through the age-old practice of telling stories to illustrate truth. Together, these two accounts have been pieced together by Walter’s daughter, Jo Ann Thomas Croom, into a mosaic quilt that gives us a fresh in-depth look into a turbulent period of change – change that upended personal lives as well as the socioeconomic culture of the Valley. While this is the story of one particular family, it represents a microcosm of the history of the region.

Jo Ann Thomas Croom was born in Mitchell County, North Carolina, where her parents were life-long educators in the public school system.  After graduating from Harris High School in Spruce Pine, Jo Ann attended Mars Hill College for two years.  She then earned BS and MS degrees in Chemistry and Microbiology from North Carolina State University.  She worked as a chemist for Chemstrand Research in Triangle Park, then moved to Asheville with her husband Richard Croom and began a family. In the Asheville area, Jo Ann taught at Asheville Biltmore College, Warren Wilson College, Saint Genevieve’s Academy, and Homewood School at Highland Hospital. After the family moved to Mars Hill in Madison County, Jo Ann began a forty-year career at Mars Hill University. She earned a PhD in human genetics at the University of Tennessee Biomedical Program.  In retirement, Jo Ann has been working with written materials inherited from her father Walter Thomas and her uncle Monroe Thomas.

Katey Schultz is the author of Flashes of War, which the Daily Beast praised as an “ambitious and fearless” collection, and Still Come Home, a novel, both published by Loyola University Maryland. Honors for her work include North Carolina’s Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction, the Linda Flowers Literary Award, Doris Betts Fiction Prize, Foreword INDIES Book of the Year award, gold and silver medals from the Military Writers Society of America, the Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year award, five Pushcart nominations, a nomination to Best American Short Stories, National Indies Excellence recognition, and writing fellowships in eight states. She lives in Celo, North Carolina, and is the founder of Maximum Impact, a transformative mentoring service for creative writers that has been recognized by both CNBC and the What Works Network.

Jim Stokely grew up in Newport, Tennessee and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University with exceptional distinction in American Studies.   He later received an MBA from Stanford University, and embarked upon a 25-year corporate career in Human Resources for The Hay Group, Brown-Forman Corporation, and Sylvania.  In 2011 he and his wife Anne moved back to the southern mountains and now live in Weaverville, North Carolina.  As President of the Wilma Dykeman Legacy, Jim produces local lecture series and other events in order to sustain the values of Wilma Dykeman. He is the author of Constant Defender: The Story of Fort Moultrie, co-author of Mountain Home: A Pictorial History of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, co-editor of An Encyclopedia of East Tennessee, and editor of An Appalachian Studies Teacher’s Manual as well as Family of Earth: A Southern Mountain Childhood.

Hybrid: No Work in the Grave: Life in the Toe River Valley with Jo Ann Thomas Croom, Katey Schultz and Jim Stokely
Aug 10 @ 6:00 pm
Malaprops Bookstore and online
Image contains the text:  Jo Ann Thomas Croom with Katey Schultz and Jim Stokely: Wednesday, August 10, 2022. 6 PM ET. Hybrid. Next to the text are photos of the participants and the cover of the featured book.

This is a hybrid event, meaning there is an option to attend virtually and a limited number of seats are available to attend the event in-store. Registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance.

Please click here to register for the VIRTUAL event. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

Please click here to register for the IN-PERSON event. Note the important event details on the RSVP form.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


Step back in time to the early 1900s and enter the sparsely settled Toe River Valley in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, a region still only slowly healing from the deep ravages of the Civil War. Life is centered in small insulated communities made up of subsistence farm families, one of which is the A.H. and Maggie Silver Thomas family. Both the Thomas and Silver families can trace their ancestors in the Valley back for five generations, and both their histories are first recorded by their son, Monroe, a teacher who is home-bound by illness. From his cot in the living room, Monroe watches as the entry of the railroad changes life into a wage-earner economy. He keeps an account of farm and community life in his journals while continuing to further educate himself through avid reading and thinking. His younger brother Walter, also an educator, provides a retrospective view of the time and place through the age-old practice of telling stories to illustrate truth. Together, these two accounts have been pieced together by Walter’s daughter, Jo Ann Thomas Croom, into a mosaic quilt that gives us a fresh in-depth look into a turbulent period of change – change that upended personal lives as well as the socioeconomic culture of the Valley. While this is the story of one particular family, it represents a microcosm of the history of the region.

Jo Ann Thomas Croom was born in Mitchell County, North Carolina, where her parents were life-long educators in the public school system.  After graduating from Harris High School in Spruce Pine, Jo Ann attended Mars Hill College for two years.  She then earned BS and MS degrees in Chemistry and Microbiology from North Carolina State University.  She worked as a chemist for Chemstrand Research in Triangle Park, then moved to Asheville with her husband Richard Croom and began a family. In the Asheville area, Jo Ann taught at Asheville Biltmore College, Warren Wilson College, Saint Genevieve’s Academy, and Homewood School at Highland Hospital. After the family moved to Mars Hill in Madison County, Jo Ann began a forty-year career at Mars Hill University. She earned a PhD in human genetics at the University of Tennessee Biomedical Program.  In retirement, Jo Ann has been working with written materials inherited from her father Walter Thomas and her uncle Monroe Thomas.

Katey Schultz is the author of Flashes of War, which the Daily Beast praised as an “ambitious and fearless” collection, and Still Come Home, a novel, both published by Loyola University Maryland. Honors for her work include North Carolina’s Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction, the Linda Flowers Literary Award, Doris Betts Fiction Prize, Foreword INDIES Book of the Year award, gold and silver medals from the Military Writers Society of America, the Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year award, five Pushcart nominations, a nomination to Best American Short Stories, National Indies Excellence recognition, and writing fellowships in eight states. She lives in Celo, North Carolina, and is the founder of Maximum Impact, a transformative mentoring service for creative writers that has been recognized by both CNBC and the What Works Network.

Jim Stokely grew up in Newport, Tennessee and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University with exceptional distinction in American Studies.   He later received an MBA from Stanford University, and embarked upon a 25-year corporate career in Human Resources for The Hay Group, Brown-Forman Corporation, and Sylvania.  In 2011 he and his wife Anne moved back to the southern mountains and now live in Weaverville, North Carolina.  As President of the Wilma Dykeman Legacy, Jim produces local lecture series and other events in order to sustain the values of Wilma Dykeman. He is the author of Constant Defender: The Story of Fort Moultrie, co-author of Mountain Home: A Pictorial History of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, co-editor of An Encyclopedia of East Tennessee, and editor of An Appalachian Studies Teacher’s Manual as well as Family of Earth: A Southern Mountain Childhood.

Thursday, August 11, 2022
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library®
Aug 11 all-day
online

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library impacts the pre­-literacy skills and school readiness of children under the age of 5 in Buncombe County. The program mails a new, free, age-appropriate book to registered children each month until they turn five years old. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library creates a home library of up to 60 books and instills a love of books and reading from an early age. If you have any questions about the program, please send an email to [email protected].

A national panel of educators selects the Imagination Library titles, which include: The Little Engine that Could, Last Stop on Market Street, Violet the Pilot, As an Oak Tree Grows, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Llama Llama Red Pajama, Look Out Kindergarten, here I come, and many more (take a look at all the titles).

Register your child now!

Rescheduled – Black Experience Book Club
Aug 11 @ 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Noir Collective AVL

Rescheduled - Black Experience Book Club

Join us at Join us at Noir Collective AVL, 39 S. Market St. in downtown Asheville,, for our discussion of this month’s book pick, The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin.
WHERE TO FIND THE BOOK
AT THE LIBRARY
Call your local Buncombe County Public Library or visit buncombecounty.org/library to reserve your copy online.
NOIR COLLECTIVE AT THE YMI
Stop by the Noir Collective during open hours, call 828-257-4540, or email [email protected] to check availability.

Friday, August 12, 2022
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library®
Aug 12 all-day
online

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library impacts the pre­-literacy skills and school readiness of children under the age of 5 in Buncombe County. The program mails a new, free, age-appropriate book to registered children each month until they turn five years old. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library creates a home library of up to 60 books and instills a love of books and reading from an early age. If you have any questions about the program, please send an email to [email protected].

A national panel of educators selects the Imagination Library titles, which include: The Little Engine that Could, Last Stop on Market Street, Violet the Pilot, As an Oak Tree Grows, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Llama Llama Red Pajama, Look Out Kindergarten, here I come, and many more (take a look at all the titles).

Register your child now!

Hybrid: Rachel Griffin presents Wild is the Witch in conversation with Isabel Ibañez
Aug 12 @ 6:00 pm
Malaprop's Bookstore

This is a hybrid event, meaning there is an option to attend virtually and a limited number of seats are available to attend the event in-store. Registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance. 

Hybrid: Rachel Griffin presents Wild is the Witch in conversation with Isabel Ibañez
Aug 12 @ 6:00 pm
Malaprops Bookstore and online
Image contains the text: Rachel Griffin in conversation with Isabel Ibañez: Friday, August 12, 2022. 6 PM ET. Hybrid. Next to the text are photos of the participants and the cover of the featured book.

This is a hybrid event, meaning there is an option to attend virtually and a limited number of seats are available to attend the event in-store. Registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance.

Please click here to register for the VIRTUAL event. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

Please click here to register for the IN-PERSON event. Note the important event details on the RSVP form.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


From the instant New York Times bestselling author of The Nature of Witches comes an enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance about a young witch attempting to undo a terrible curse.

Iris Gray knows witches aren’t welcome in most towns. When she was forced to leave her last home after an illegal display of magic, she left behind a father who was no longer willing to start over. And while the Witches’ Council was lenient in their punishment, Iris knows they’re keeping tabs on her.
Now settled in Washington, Iris she vents her frustrations by writing curses she never intends to cast and spends her days at the wildlife refuge with a witch-hating intern, Pike Adler.
Iris concocts the perfect curse for Pike: one that will turn him into a witch. But just as she’s about to dispel it, a bird steals the curse before flying away. If the bird dies, the curse will be unleashed and turn not just Pike, but everyone in the region, into a witch.
Iris begs Pike to help her track the bird, and they set out on a trek through the Pacific Northwest…and find they may like each other’s company more than they want to admit.

RACHEL GRIFFIN lives just outside of Seattle with her husband and dog, Doppler. She became a certified weather spotter for the National Weather Service while doing research for her New York Times bestselling debut The Nature of Witches. Visit her online at rachelgriffinbooks.com.

Isabel Ibañez is the author of Woven in Moonlight, Together We Burn, and Written in Starlight, a finalist for the William C. Morris Award, and is listed among Time Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy Books Of All Time. She was born in Boca Raton, Florida, and is the proud daughter of two Bolivian immigrants. Isabel has a profound appreciation for history and traveling and loves hosting family and friends around the dinner table. She currently lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with her husband, their adorable dog, and a serious collection of books. Say hi on social media!

Saturday, August 13, 2022
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library®
Aug 13 all-day
online

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library impacts the pre­-literacy skills and school readiness of children under the age of 5 in Buncombe County. The program mails a new, free, age-appropriate book to registered children each month until they turn five years old. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library creates a home library of up to 60 books and instills a love of books and reading from an early age. If you have any questions about the program, please send an email to [email protected].

A national panel of educators selects the Imagination Library titles, which include: The Little Engine that Could, Last Stop on Market Street, Violet the Pilot, As an Oak Tree Grows, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Llama Llama Red Pajama, Look Out Kindergarten, here I come, and many more (take a look at all the titles).

Register your child now!

Friends of the Library Pop Up Book Sale! Black Mountain Library
Aug 13 @ 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Black Mountain Library

Friends of the Library Pop Up Book Sale!

Children’s books: 2 for $1
Fiction: a bag full for $5

Grandfather Presents: Charlie Brady
Aug 13 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Grandfather Mountain
Charlie Brady Event

As part of our 2022 Grandfather Presents speaker series, Charlie Brady, Executive Director of the Blue Ridge Conservancy, will present “Strategically Protecting Land to Ensure Access to Natural Places for Everyone.” The Blue Ridge Conservancy is a non-profit organization that has protected over 23,000 acres in Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Mitchell, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey Counties in western NC. In addition to protecting working farmland, BRC’s efforts have resulted in the creation of state natural areas such as Beech Creek Bog, Bear Paw and Bullhead Mountain.

Charlie has served on the Environmental Management Commission for the State of North Carolina, North Carolina State Parks Board, Foothills Conservancy Board of Trustees, Trout Unlimited National Board, as well as on numerous local and regional non-profit boards. He is an avid outdoorsman and recreationalist with a strong commitment to land and water conservation.

Arrive early or stay after to chat with the speaker. Read more about Grandfather Presents.

Location: Classroom in the Clouds Event Space, Wilson Center for Nature Discovery

Tickets: Included in park admission or Bridge Club membership. RSVP required. Reserve your seat below beginning July 11.

Author Talk – Andrew Aydin
Aug 13 @ 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
East Asheville Public Library

Author Talk - Andrew Aydin

Author Andrew Aydin will join us at the East Asheville Public Library to talk about his work with the late civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis and their #1 New York Times bestselling work, March.

Tuesday, August 16, 2022
North Asheville Book Club: Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown
Aug 16 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Online w/ North Asheville Library

North Asheville Book Club

Join us to discuss this month’s book: Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown

This is a hybrid in-person/virtual meeting. Participants may come in person to the North Asheville Library or participate via Zoom.

Registration is required for the Zoom link.

The North Asheville Book Club meets on the 3rd Tuesday of every month.

Awaken: An Online Shamanic Healing Experience
Aug 16 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
online

Awaken: An Online Shamanic Healing Experience

Hosted by Jissel Ravelo
Are you looking to feel more present, empowered and purposeful?

About this Event
In this virtual experience, we pave the way to establish more authentic, profound and lasting transformation on the physical, emotional and spiritual levels, through coming together as a community. These ancient practices, teachings and inner journeys are designed to connect you back to nature, open your heart and help understand your potential. Come ready to reflect, visualize, write and share (if comfortable).
Other benefits include:
• Supporting your ability to create positive life changes
• Increasing inner power and confidence
• Expanding your sense of wholeness and well-being
• Promoting a stronger connection to a spiritual source and soul purpose
• Changing limiting or negatives beliefs
• Balancing the mind for clarity and enhanced intuition
• Helping to feeling more present and stable in life
The following is recommended: a quiet and comfortable space, a blanket and pillow, water, and a journal. Optional tools (if available): sage, palo santo, florida water, favorite essential oil, crystals, stones and a candle.

Any donation amount is appreciated, we accept donations up to $30 per group session.

Wednesday, August 17, 2022
Hybrid: Melanie Bianchi presents The Ballad Of Cherrystoke And Other Stories, in conversation with Alli Marshall
Aug 17 @ 6:00 pm
Malaprop's Bookstore
Image contains the text: Melanie Bianchi in conversation with Alli Marshall : Tuesday, August 16, 2022. 6 PM ET. Hybrid. Next to the text are photos of the participants and the cover of the featured book.

This is a hybrid event, meaning there is an option to attend virtually and a limited number of seats are available to attend the event in-store. Registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance.

Please click here to register for the VIRTUAL event. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

Please click here to register for the IN-PERSON event. Note the important event details on the RSVP form.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


A young maid at an upscale resort hides her banjo-playing freight hopper brother. An unlikely romance bridges a quarter-century age gap and a 150-year-old murder. A man tries to turn his sheltered mother’s backyard shed into a pricey vacation rental. A gig worker must shake off her darker identity to become a professional baby namer. This mesmeric debut collection of stories set in the Appalachian mountains weaves together the curious and the sublime, with Bianchi’s lyrical style cutting straight to the heart of the matter.

Melanie McGee Bianchi grew up in a series of character-forming historic houses in different parts of the U.S. Starting at age 12, she gathered modest notice on the spelling-bee circuit, won short-story contests in various newspapers, and placed poems and fiction in national print publications, including the grunge-era teen magazine Sassy. After university, she began a career in features journalism in Asheville, North Carolina, where she has lived most of her life. Melanie was the lead arts reporter and Arts & Entertainment Editor at Mountain Xpress, a member paper of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, for ten years. She interviewed celebrities of many genres, including Loretta Lynn, David Sedaris, Aimee Mann, the late R.L. Burnside, and the late Doc Watson. In 2004, she won an industry Gold Award for special-section editing.After five happy years as a stay-at-home mom, Melanie next edited VERVE, a women’s magazine, for a period in the 2010s, working with Venezuelan fashion photographer Zaire Kacz and model/stylist Sara Fields Bridges. Melanie currently manages three regional lifestyle publications: Asheville Made, Bold Life, and Carolina Home + Garden. Her humor essays have been published regionally and nationally, and her poetry has been shortlisted in national chapbook contests and nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Melanie’s current fiction has appeared in The Mississippi Review’s Summer Prize Issue, in Chattahoochee Review, and in The Moth Magazine (based in Co. Cavan, Ireland). These pieces and more are included in her first book, The Ballad of Cherrystoke + Other Stories, forthcoming from Blackwater Press in 2022.

Alli Marshall is a poet, performer, writer, editor, film maker and creative community builder. She’s interested in moving writing beyond the page, seeking the golden in the mundane, finding the intersection of art and social justice, and reconnecting with mythology — both ancient and modern.

Hybrid: Melanie Bianchi presents The Ballad Of Cherrystoke And Other Stories, in conversation with Alli Marshall
Aug 17 @ 6:00 pm
Malaprops Bookstore and online
Image contains the text: Melanie Bianchi in conversation with Alli Marshall : Tuesday, August 16, 2022. 6 PM ET. Hybrid. Next to the text are photos of the participants and the cover of the featured book.

This is a hybrid event, meaning there is an option to attend virtually and a limited number of seats are available to attend the event in-store. Registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance.

Please click here to register for the VIRTUAL event. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

Please click here to register for the IN-PERSON event. Note the important event details on the RSVP form.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


A young maid at an upscale resort hides her banjo-playing freight hopper brother. An unlikely romance bridges a quarter-century age gap and a 150-year-old murder. A man tries to turn his sheltered mother’s backyard shed into a pricey vacation rental. A gig worker must shake off her darker identity to become a professional baby namer. This mesmeric debut collection of stories set in the Appalachian mountains weaves together the curious and the sublime, with Bianchi’s lyrical style cutting straight to the heart of the matter.

Melanie McGee Bianchi grew up in a series of character-forming historic houses in different parts of the U.S. Starting at age 12, she gathered modest notice on the spelling-bee circuit, won short-story contests in various newspapers, and placed poems and fiction in national print publications, including the grunge-era teen magazine Sassy. After university, she began a career in features journalism in Asheville, North Carolina, where she has lived most of her life. Melanie was the lead arts reporter and Arts & Entertainment Editor at Mountain Xpress, a member paper of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, for ten years. She interviewed celebrities of many genres, including Loretta Lynn, David Sedaris, Aimee Mann, the late R.L. Burnside, and the late Doc Watson. In 2004, she won an industry Gold Award for special-section editing.After five happy years as a stay-at-home mom, Melanie next edited VERVE, a women’s magazine, for a period in the 2010s, working with Venezuelan fashion photographer Zaire Kacz and model/stylist Sara Fields Bridges. Melanie currently manages three regional lifestyle publications: Asheville Made, Bold Life, and Carolina Home + Garden. Her humor essays have been published regionally and nationally, and her poetry has been shortlisted in national chapbook contests and nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Melanie’s current fiction has appeared in The Mississippi Review’s Summer Prize Issue, in Chattahoochee Review, and in The Moth Magazine (based in Co. Cavan, Ireland). These pieces and more are included in her first book, The Ballad of Cherrystoke + Other Stories, forthcoming from Blackwater Press in 2022.

Alli Marshall is a poet, performer, writer, editor, film maker and creative community builder. She’s interested in moving writing beyond the page, seeking the golden in the mundane, finding the intersection of art and social justice, and reconnecting with mythology — both ancient and modern.